Senior Database Reliability Engineer Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Senior Database Reliability Engineers are strong H-1B visa and O-1 visa candidates. The role qualifies as a specialty occupation requiring a bachelor's degree or higher in computer science or a related field, and demand from tech and finance employers keeps sponsorship activity high. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
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Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
Secure Every Identity, from AI to Human
Identity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence.
This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Senior Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE)
Experience Level: Mid–Senior (4+ years PostgreSQL experience)
We are looking for a highly skilled Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) with deep expertise in PostgreSQL at scale and solid experience with MySQL. In this role, you will design, operationalize, and optimize the data persistence layer that powers our large-scale, mission-critical systems. You will work closely with SRE, Platform, and Engineering teams to ensure performance, reliability, automation, and operational excellence across our database environment.
This is a hands-on engineering role focused on building resilient data infrastructure, not just administering it.
Responsibilities
Architecture, Reliability & Performance
- Design, implement, and operate highly available PostgreSQL clusters (physical replication, logical replication, sharding/partitioning, failover automation).
- Optimize query performance, indexing strategies, schema design, and storage engines.
- Perform capacity planning, growth forecasting, and workload modeling.
- Own high-availability strategies including automatic failover, multi-AZ/multi-region setups, and disaster recovery.
Automation & Tooling
- Develop automation for any and all tasks including but not limited to: provisioning, configuration, backups, failovers, vacuum tuning, and schema management using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes Operators, or custom tooling.
- Build monitoring, alerting, and self-healing systems for PostgreSQL and MySQL.
Operations & Incident Response
- Lead response during database incidents—performance regressions, replication lag, deadlocks, bloat issues, storage failures, etc.
- Conduct root-cause analysis and implement permanent fixes.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with software engineers to review SQL, optimize schemas, and ensure efficient use of PostgreSQL features.
- Provide guidance on database-related design patterns, migrations, version upgrades, and best practices.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 4 plus years of hands-on PostgreSQL experience in high-volume, distributed, or large-scale production environments.
- Strong knowledge of PostgreSQL internals (WAL, MVCC, bloat/ vacuum tuning, query planner, indexing, logical replication).
- Production experience with MySQL (InnoDB internals, replication, performance tuning).
- Advanced SQL and strong understanding of schema design and query optimization.
- Experience with Linux systems, networking fundamentals, and systems troubleshooting.
- Experience building automation with Go or Python.
- Production experience with monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, PMM, pg_stat_statements, etc.).
- Hands-on experience with cloud environments (AWS or GCP).
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with PgBouncer, HAProxy, or other connection-pooling/load-balancing layers.
- Exposure to event streaming (Kafka, Debezium) and change data capture.
- Experience supporting 24/7 production environments with on-call rotation.
- Contributions to open-source PostgreSQL ecosystem.
This position requires the ability to access federal environments and/or have access to protected federal data. As a condition of employment for this position, the successful candidate must be able to submit documentation establishing U.S. Person status (e.g. a U.S. Citizen, National, Lawful Permanent Resident, Refugee, or Asylee. 22 CFR 120.15) upon hire.
Requires in-person onboarding and travel to our San Francisco, CA HQ office or our Chicago office during the first week of employment.
LI-Hybrid
LI-LSS1
P6805_3362886
COMPENSATION
The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between:
$160,000—$220,000 USD
Below is the annual base salary range for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington. Your actual base salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies.
The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington is between:
$143,000—$196,000 USD
THE OKTA EXPERIENCE
- Supporting Your Well-Being
- Driving Social Impact
- Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community
We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in-person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one.
Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws.
If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.
Notice for New York City Applicants & Employees: Okta may use Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT), as defined by New York City Local Law 144, that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated processes to assist in our recruitment and hiring process. In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, if you are an applicant or employee residing in New York City, please click here to view our full NYC AEDT Notice.
Okta is committed to complying with applicable data privacy and security laws and regulations. For more information, please see our Personnel and Job Candidate Privacy Notice at https://www.okta.com/legal/personnel-policy/.
INTRODUCTION
Secure Every Identity, from AI to Human
Identity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence.
This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Senior Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE)
Experience Level: Mid–Senior (4+ years PostgreSQL experience)
We are looking for a highly skilled Database Reliability Engineer (DBRE) with deep expertise in PostgreSQL at scale and solid experience with MySQL. In this role, you will design, operationalize, and optimize the data persistence layer that powers our large-scale, mission-critical systems. You will work closely with SRE, Platform, and Engineering teams to ensure performance, reliability, automation, and operational excellence across our database environment.
This is a hands-on engineering role focused on building resilient data infrastructure, not just administering it.
Responsibilities
Architecture, Reliability & Performance
- Design, implement, and operate highly available PostgreSQL clusters (physical replication, logical replication, sharding/partitioning, failover automation).
- Optimize query performance, indexing strategies, schema design, and storage engines.
- Perform capacity planning, growth forecasting, and workload modeling.
- Own high-availability strategies including automatic failover, multi-AZ/multi-region setups, and disaster recovery.
Automation & Tooling
- Develop automation for any and all tasks including but not limited to: provisioning, configuration, backups, failovers, vacuum tuning, and schema management using tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes Operators, or custom tooling.
- Build monitoring, alerting, and self-healing systems for PostgreSQL and MySQL.
Operations & Incident Response
- Lead response during database incidents—performance regressions, replication lag, deadlocks, bloat issues, storage failures, etc.
- Conduct root-cause analysis and implement permanent fixes.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with software engineers to review SQL, optimize schemas, and ensure efficient use of PostgreSQL features.
- Provide guidance on database-related design patterns, migrations, version upgrades, and best practices.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 4 plus years of hands-on PostgreSQL experience in high-volume, distributed, or large-scale production environments.
- Strong knowledge of PostgreSQL internals (WAL, MVCC, bloat/ vacuum tuning, query planner, indexing, logical replication).
- Production experience with MySQL (InnoDB internals, replication, performance tuning).
- Advanced SQL and strong understanding of schema design and query optimization.
- Experience with Linux systems, networking fundamentals, and systems troubleshooting.
- Experience building automation with Go or Python.
- Production experience with monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, PMM, pg_stat_statements, etc.).
- Hands-on experience with cloud environments (AWS or GCP).
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with PgBouncer, HAProxy, or other connection-pooling/load-balancing layers.
- Exposure to event streaming (Kafka, Debezium) and change data capture.
- Experience supporting 24/7 production environments with on-call rotation.
- Contributions to open-source PostgreSQL ecosystem.
This position requires the ability to access federal environments and/or have access to protected federal data. As a condition of employment for this position, the successful candidate must be able to submit documentation establishing U.S. Person status (e.g. a U.S. Citizen, National, Lawful Permanent Resident, Refugee, or Asylee. 22 CFR 120.15) upon hire.
Requires in-person onboarding and travel to our San Francisco, CA HQ office or our Chicago office during the first week of employment.
LI-Hybrid
LI-LSS1
P6805_3362886
COMPENSATION
The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between:
$160,000—$220,000 USD
Below is the annual base salary range for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington. Your actual base salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies.
The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington is between:
$143,000—$196,000 USD
THE OKTA EXPERIENCE
- Supporting Your Well-Being
- Driving Social Impact
- Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community
We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in-person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one.
Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws.
If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.
Notice for New York City Applicants & Employees: Okta may use Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT), as defined by New York City Local Law 144, that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated processes to assist in our recruitment and hiring process. In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, if you are an applicant or employee residing in New York City, please click here to view our full NYC AEDT Notice.
Okta is committed to complying with applicable data privacy and security laws and regulations. For more information, please see our Personnel and Job Candidate Privacy Notice at https://www.okta.com/legal/personnel-policy/.
See all Senior Database Reliability Engineer jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Senior Database Reliability Engineer roles.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Visa Sponsorship as a Senior Database Reliability Engineer
Target companies with active H-1B filing histories
Employers who have sponsored database or infrastructure engineers before are far more likely to do it again. Consistent H-1B filing history signals an established internal process, reducing friction and the risk of a flat refusal at the offer stage.
Emphasize systems ownership, not just maintenance
USCIS scrutinizes whether a role truly requires a specialized degree. Framing your work around architecture decisions, SLA ownership, and incident response demonstrates the theoretical and technical depth that supports a specialty occupation classification.
Highlight specific database technologies in your resume
Naming platforms like PostgreSQL, Cassandra, or Oracle and pairing them with measurable outcomes strengthens both your candidacy and the employer's case that the role demands specialized expertise beyond general software engineering knowledge.
Understand the LCA before you accept an offer
Your employer files a Labor Condition Application with the Department of Labor before submitting your H-1B petition. The LCA certifies the prevailing wage and work location. Knowing this step exists helps you set realistic timelines with your hiring manager.
Ask whether the employer uses premium processing
Premium processing guarantees a USCIS decision within 15 business days. For a Senior Database Reliability Engineer role with a tight start date, it is worth confirming whether the employer routinely uses it or will consider it on request.
Australian citizens should ask about the E-3 visa specifically
The E-3 visa has no lottery, a near-unlimited annual cap for qualified applicants, and allows consular processing in two to three weeks. Senior Database Reliability Engineer roles qualify easily, making the E-3 a faster and more predictable path than the H-1B.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Senior Database Reliability Engineer role qualify for H-1B sponsorship?
Yes. Senior Database Reliability Engineer is a well-established specialty occupation under USCIS standards. The role requires theoretical and practical application of computer science or information systems knowledge at a level that normally requires at least a bachelor's degree in a directly related field, which satisfies the core H-1B specialty occupation test. Employers in tech, finance, and healthcare sponsor this title regularly.
What degree do I need for an employer to sponsor my visa as a Database Reliability Engineer?
A bachelor's degree or higher in computer science, information systems, software engineering, or a closely related field is the standard requirement. A degree in an unrelated field, such as business or liberal arts, makes the specialty occupation case harder to support unless you also have substantial relevant coursework. USCIS evaluates the degree-to-role connection directly, so the field of study matters as much as the level.
How often do employers actually sponsor visas for this role?
Database reliability and infrastructure roles appear consistently in H-1B LCA disclosure data, particularly at large technology companies, financial institutions, and cloud infrastructure firms. Sponsorship is more common at the senior level than at entry level because employers are more willing to absorb the cost and administrative effort for roles that are harder to fill. Browsing Migrate Mate filters sponsorship-active employers specifically, saving considerable research time.
Can I transfer my H-1B to a new employer if I change jobs as a Senior Database Reliability Engineer?
Yes. H-1B portability allows you to start working for a new employer as soon as they file a transfer petition, without waiting for approval, provided you have maintained valid H-1B status. Your new employer files a fresh I-129 petition covering the Senior Database Reliability Engineer role at their company. The LCA must reflect the new work location and prevailing wage, so the process restarts even if you have years of H-1B time remaining.
Does the H-1B lottery affect my chances of getting sponsored for this role?
If you are subject to the H-1B cap, yes. Each fiscal year USCIS receives far more registrations than the 85,000 available slots, and selection is random. However, cap-exempt employers including universities, nonprofit research organizations, and certain government entities can file year-round outside the lottery. Australian citizens avoid this entirely through the E-3 visa, which has no lottery and a separate annual allocation that has never been exhausted.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Senior Database Reliability Engineer jobs?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.
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